'I pray for the President': Trump storms out of meeting, boycotting bipartisanship

New York: US President Donald Trump has stormed out of a meeting on infrastructure with top Democrats, declaring he would end all policy co-operation with the party until it finishes its investigations into his election victory and administration.

The dramatic events in Washington on Wednesday, local time, put the dysfunctional nature of American politics on stark display and increased the likelihood that Democrats will open impeachment proceedings against the President.

Trump said he was furious about comments by Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi earlier in the day that he had "engaged in a cover-up" following the release of the Mueller report into Russian election interference.

"Instead of walking in happily to a meeting, I walk in to look at people who said I was doing a cover-up," Trump said in a press conference at the White House. "I don't do cover-ups."

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Trump walked out of the meeting - aimed at crafting a bipartisan $US2 trillion ($2.9 trillion) infrastructure package - after just three minutes and did not shake any of the Democrats' hands.

US President Donald Trump brandishes a sheet about the Mueller report at a surprise press conference in the White House Rose Garden. Credit:AP

He then held a press conference in the White House Rose Garden that was unexpected but not necessarily unplanned.

Trump stood behind a placard containing statistics about the Mueller investigation that also read "No Collusion / No Obstruction".

Trump demanded that Democrats "get these phony investigations over with", saying they could not legislate and investigate at the same time.

In a press conference after the failed meeting, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said she prayed for the President.Credit:AP

At a later press conference, Pelosi said Democrats were prepared to work with Trump to deliver a major infrastructure package to help repair the nation's roads, bridges and airports.

"He just took a pass, and it just makes me wonder why he did," Pelosi said. "In any event, I pray for the President of the United States, and I pray for the United States of America."

The President's unannounced press conference did not seem unplanned.Credit:AP

Democratic Senate leader Charles Schumer said: "To watch what happened in the White House would make your jaw drop."

President Donald Trump at the White House on Wednesday.Credit:AP

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Pressure to launch impeachment proceedings is growing in the Democratic caucus, even though Pelosi has warned her colleagues not to move too quickly.

Congressional Democrats have been growing increasingly frustrated about the White House's refusal to comply with subpoenas for documents and witnesses.

Trump has so far blocked access to his tax returns and declined to make witnesses such as former White House counsel Don McGahn available to testify before Congress about special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into Russian election meddling.

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Democrats have also been unable to secure an appearance by Mueller himself.

"The President’s refusal to produce evidence or permit witness testimony defies not only the rule of law but the basic protections of our constitution," Democratic congresswoman Mary Gay Scanlon said this week.

"The time has come to start an impeachment inquiry because the American people deserve to know the truth and to have the opportunity to judge the gravity of the evidence and charges levelled against the President."

Trump's threat to boycott any co-operation with Democrats further lowers the bar for impeachment as it is already clear that bipartisan legislation has little chance of success.

Some Democrats even believe Trump is trying to goad them into impeachment as he knows it is unpopular with the American people and would galvanise support among his base.

Meanwhile on Wednesday a federal judge in Manhattan ruled against a Trump request to block Deutsche Bank from supplying his financial records, while New York legislators approved a bill that would allow Congress to obtain Trump's state tax returns. The decisions come on top of a judge in Washington overruling Trump's request to block his accounting firm from divulging records on Monday.